Accessability Swedish Version
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AccessAbility. To live with dignity, regardless of disability, is a human right according to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The personal stories of this exhibition can hopefully initiate conversations and strengthen cooperation internationally on accessibility, dignity and disability policies. The exhibition AccessAbility is based on fourteen personal stories of people in Sweden, filled with everyday life, dreams, hope, sorrow, joy, love, family, work and leisure. This document contains all fourteen pictures with captions, and the introduction text that is part of the exhibition. Photos by Markus Marcetic Texts by Rikard Lagerberg Curated and produced by Sofia Marcetic AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 It has enabled many people with intellectual disabilities to AccessAbility. live in their own homes, and people with physical Beyond physical environments disabilities to travel with a personal assistant, both for work and leisure. This exhibition can be summed up in one word – Since 2009, Sweden has a government agency – the dignity. To live with dignity, regardless of disability, is Equality Ombudsman – working full-time against all forms a human right according to the United Nations of structural discrimination in society. It aims is to Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. strengthen the legal protection of those discriminated against – on the grounds of gender, transgender identity or The fight for equality certainly has not been won. But expression, ethnicity, religion or other beliefs, disability, giving everyone a chance to be seen and heard is a sexual orientation or age. step along the way. The 14 individuals photographed here and their tales are not the end of the story – they Still, needless to say, people will always have fight for their are a snapshot of a point in time in Sweden. improved equal rights. Since 1968, Swedish schools are legally required to In 2014 Sweden’s discrimination laws were extended to ensure that students with disabilities can reach the same include inaccessibility. This change came about after educational goals as everyone else. disability campaigners had protested outside the Swedish Prime Minister’s office once a week – during three years. In 1989 political citizenship was granted to all people from the age of 18 in Sweden. Prior to that, many people with For people with disabilities to enjoy full equality in society, intellectual disabilities were classified as minors and thus changes for the better remain. In environments, laws – and excluded from voting in elections. attitudes. In 1994, the Act Concerning Support and Service for Persons with Certain Functional Impairments was This exhibition is produced by the Swedish Institute (SI). SI is a introduced. This set of laws was designed to give people public agency that seeks to establish co-operation and lasting relations between Sweden and other countries. with disabilities opportunities to lead independent lives and participate in society. AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Aluspah Brewah Aluspah is a nine-year-old boy who lives with his parents and a younger brother. Aluspah is the first to get up in the morning. While the others sleep he watches TV or plays video games. He is proud of his skills at the game Minecraft. Aluspah speaks three languages: Swedish, English and Creole. But Aluspah didn’t start speaking at all until he was almost five years old. He was diagnosed with a mild development disorder and today he goes to a special needs school, although he follows the same programme as in regular schools. Aluspah loves to be outside and often spends time after school in the local playground with his best friend. He is a really fast runner and also likes swimming, basketball and dancing. Before bed, he writes in his diary. AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Sara Shamloo When she was 21, Sara published her first novel, Gloria, written in a Gothic-Romantic style. Sara is involved in a feminist collective that publishes books. She plays transverse flute, teaches people to read and write braille, and consumes as much culture as possible in her free time. Part of her income comes from teaching creative writing. Sara lives in an apartment with her guide dog. She finds it frustrating not to know whether she will be allowed in to theatres, concerts or even coffee shops because Swedish laws against discrimination do not include guide dog users. But she chooses not to let her visual impairment take up too much of her thinking – there are so many other things in life that are more fun. AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Johnie Hjelm For 22-year-old Johnie, the line between work and leisure tends to blur. Along with his full-time job as a web developer, Johnie also has his own business where he sells more affordable wheelchair ramps to smaller organisations and companies. He has been an entrepreneur since high school, working with web solutions together with a friend. Johnie is also very interested in sports, and plays a form of floor ball for people in wheelchairs twice a week. Johnie has spinal muscular atrophy, which leads to muscle wasting and mobility impairment. It was discovered when he was two. To Johnie, it’s important to be both open and driven in order to get past what biases there might be in society. He thinks Sweden has come pretty far regarding accessibility, and that existing laws are a good starting point to build from. He is close to his family and says he’s ‘always had a good mix between friends who walk and those who use a wheelchair to get around.’ AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Mårten Hennéus Once every year, journalist Mårten leaves everything else behind for about two weeks to go sail gliding: piloting an aircraft without an engine. Flying was always his big dream growing up. In order to fly an engineless plane, one must control three rudders: two with your hands and one with both your legs. Mårten does this using a prosthetic leg. Twenty years ago he was in a train accident that cost him his left leg. Although Mårten has never felt personally discriminated against, he has been questioned. He says: ‘People might ask if I can really manage certain things on my own. That came up ahead of my first assignment as a foreign correspondent for a daily newspaper.’ In general Mårten thinks that people with special needs should speak up more. ‘I want a more lively debate where people with disabilities speak up and set demands. It’s easy to complain after the fact but more people need to speak up against places being constructed without disabled access before they start. I wish more people with disabilities would make a fuss.’ AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Birgitta Andersson Birgitta is in her seventies and although retired, she remains occupied with volunteer work, mostly regarding accessibility and women’s rights. Seeing young people fight for their rights brings her great joy. Birgitta was born with one arm missing and with limited mobility in her other arm. She developed scoliosis which affected her lungs and makes it very difficult for her to walk. A traffic accident later in life damaged her hip. She has had a personal assistant since 1994. She has seen a lot of social progress during her lifetime, but says: ‘Unfortunately, the politics regarding accessibility and disability has not moved at the same pace as children’s rights or gender equality or other human rights development.’ The reason, she thinks, is in part that there is a deep-rooted view in society that people with a disability should be taken care of. They are not given the same chances as others. Birgitta is married, a mother of two and grandmother of three. Her family is what she is most proud of but she is also very proud of her career in social work and rehabilitation. She was chair of the national organisation for people with impaired mobility from 1993-1999. It has meant a lot for her independence to be able to support herself and take her place in society. AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Lovisa Söderberg When asked what kind of person she is, 26-year-old Lovisa immediately responds: ‘I am happy.’ She lives in the moment, enjoys nature and exercise. Mobile phones stress her out. She has a degree in occupational therapy but currently earns a living as a host for one of the most popular kid’s TV shows in Sweden. As a young woman with cerebral palsy, Lovisa saw the job offer as an opportunity to give kids a more diverse image of people in wheelchairs. ‘It may be problematic sometimes to sit in a wheelchair, but that doesn’t mean I am less happy. Whenever I come across an obstacle, I think of how to overcome it, not if I can overcome it.’ AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Conny Bergqvist As a child, Conny was diagnosed with a mental disability. But he doesn’t like it when people treat him differently – he is not his disability, and he doesn’t feel limited by it. He has a job, a girlfriend and a circle of friends. Four days a week, Conny leaves his apartment in the Stockholm suburbs and either bikes or takes the bus to work as an information officer for an organisation that helps people with mental disabilities. Conny says: ‘When I grew up in the 1950s, most people did not talk about these things. It was much later that people realised that it is important to speak openly about mental disability.’ AccessAbility – an introduction, January 14, 2015 Laurentsio Pettersson Laurentsio likes both to be seen and heard.